Vehicle.



No. 721.705. 'PATENTED MAR. 3, 190 s.

1 0. W. HUNT.

VEHICLE. I APPLICATION FILED OUT. 31, 1902. -10 MODEL- jig q z" I J53 OP-8 P. z q" I f 1 5, w d d I w .33 a .1: 0- C U UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. HUNT, OF VEST NEW BRIGHTON, NEYV YORK.

VEHICLE.

"SPECIFICATION forming part-of Letters Patent N 0. 721,705, dated. March 3, 1903.

Application filed October 31, 1902. Serial No. 129,522 (No model.)

To all whom' it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES W LLACE HUNT, a citizen of the'United States, residing in West New Brighton, borough of Richmond,

city of New York, State of New York, have invented-certain new andus eful Improvements in Vehicles, of which the followingis a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming-a part hereof.

In Letters Patent of the United States numbered 708,231, dated September 2, 1902, is showna vehicle of a novel type having three trucks which are so arranged. as to give facility in handling the vehicle around corners.

The improvements therein described are ap-' plicable either to horse-drawn vehicles or to motor-vehicles, and in the application thereof to motor-vehicles the source of power is shown as mounted upon the forward steering-truck, while independent motors are applied to the carrying-trucks; Such an arrangement is feasible and may be preferred in some instances, especially when electricity is. employed as the motive power. stances, particularly when a steam or internal-combustionengine is employed as the source of power, it may be less desirable to mount separate motors upon the carryingtrucks. I

The present invention therefore has for its object to provide driving mechanism for vehicles of the character referred to by which power can be conveniently transmitted from the source of power on the steering-truck to the carrying-trucks,the improved mechanism being so constructed and arranged as to permit it to adapt itself to the relative moveportion of one of the carrying-trucks.

It will be understood that the details of the driving mechanism may be varied more or less without departing from the spirit of the invention and that the embodiment thereof In other in-.

which is illustrated in the drawings is chosen for purposes of explanation.

As described in the above-mentioned Letters Patent No. 708,231, the two bodies a and -b are independent of each other, the body a being supported upon two trucks, each of ner,as by crossed bars orrods g,that the oscillation of one axle in a'horizontal plane produces a corresponding oscillation of the other of the two axles in the opposite direction, whereby I the wheels of the rear truck follow the wheels of the preceding truck when the vehicle is turning. Theindependentbodybissupported in any convenient manner upon a steeringtruck, comprising an axle h and wheels i, and upon a rigid frame or reach it, which connects the steering-truck with the adjacent carrying-truck. Obviously the forward axle h may be swiveled with respect to the rigid frame or reach, or it may be rigid, as represented in the drawings, having at its ends stud axles 71?, which receive the steeringwheels 4; and are connected by suitable linkage It with a steering-shaft 72, conveniently mounted with respect to the body I). All of the parts thus far referred to may be constructed and arranged as shown in said Letters Patent or in any convenient or preferred manner.

For the propulsion of the vehicle the motor 0, of whatever character, is mounted upon the body I) and is operatively connected with the driving or carrying wheels d by the device about to be described. In suitable bearings on the steering-truck or body is supported a transmission-shaft p, which may be connected with the motor in any suitable manner and may be provided, if necessary, with joints, as at q andq, to accommodate relative vertical movements. This section of the transmission-shaft terminates in the vertical plane of the axle c in a universal joint 1' of any suitable character, by which it is connected with a second section 19' of the transmission-shaft, which likewise terminates in the vertical ICO plane of the rear axle c in a universal joint 0', by which it is connected with a third section 12 of the transmitting-shaft. The location of the two joints 0' and r is such-that the distance between them is not materially changed during the movement of the vehicle and may be central or in the vertical axis of rotation of each axle, respectively, as shown in the drawings. The gearing between the driving-wheels of each truck and the corresponding shaft-section may be variously arranged, since such shaft-section occupies a definite relation with respect to its driving wheels. As shown in the drawings, however, the shaft-section p carries a worm s, which meshes with a worm-gear ton the shell of a balanced gear to. The balance-gear may be of any suitable construction driving a twopart shaft 0, each part of which may carry a pinion 'w, meshing with a gear a: on the corresponding driving-wheel. In like manner the section 19 of the transmission-shaft may bear a worm s, meshing with a worm-wheel i on a balance-gear u, as before. The several parts of the transmission-shaft are supported in bearings which occupy an operative relation with respect to the axles and are consequently not ali'ected by variations in the load upon the body. Furthermore, by reason of the location of the universal joints in the vertical planes of the axles and central, as shown in Fig. 2, the operation of the transmission-shaft is not affected by the horizontal oscillation of the axle in either direction. In each instance, moreover, the gearing between the transmission-shaft and the driving-wheels is in operative relation with a section of the transmission-shaft, which retains such a relation with respect to the axle that the operation of such gearing is not-practically atfected either by operation of the load or by oscillation of the axles with respect to the single continuous body, such as the body a, which they support and by which they are connected. The power developed in the motor is therefore transmitted to the drivingwheels without undue loss through complicated gearing or the binding of any parts of the transmission mechanism in the bearings thereof.

I claim as my invention 1. In a vehicle,comprising a single,continuous body oscillating middle and rear trucks supporting and connected by said body and a forward steering-truck or body, the combination of a motor supported by the forward truck or body, a transmission-shaft operatively connected with the motor and comprising several sections, universal joints connecting said sections in the vertical planes of the middle and rear axles, whereby oscillation of one axle with respect to the other is permitted, and intermediate gearing between the driving-wheels of each truck and the corresponding section of the transmission-shaft, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a vehic1e,comprisinga single,continuous body oscillating middle and rear trucks supporting and connected by said body and a forward steering-truck or body, the combination of a motor supported upon the steering-truck or body, a transmission-shaft comprising one section operativelyconnected with the motor and in operative relation with the wheels of the middle truck, a section in operative relation with the wheels of the rear truck, and an intermediate section, universal joints in the vertical planes of the middle and rear axles connecting said intermediate section of the transmission-shaft with the other section, and gearing between two sections of the transmission-shaft and the corresponding driving-wheels, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a vehicle,comprisingasingle,continnous body oscillating middle and rear trucks supporting and connected by said body and a forward steering-truck or body, the combination of a motor supported on the steeringtruck or body, a transmission-shaft operatively connected with the motor and comprising two sections each of which is in operative relation with the corresponding truck-wheels .responding driving-wheels, substantially as shown and described.

This specification signed and witnessed this 25th day of October, A. D. 1902.

CHARLES W. HUNT. In presence of-- ANTHONY N. .TEsBERA, M. A. BRAYLEY. 

